Oil prices rose slightly on Friday after ceasefire violations by Israel and Hezbollah and the postponement of an OPEC meeting revived supply risks.
Brent crude futures rose 10 cents, or 0.1%, to $73.38 a barrel by 0516 GMT. WTI oil futures rose 45 cents, or 0.7%, to $69.17 from Wednesday’s closing price.
For the week, Brent futures fell 2.4%, and the WTI index was trading 2.9% lower. Trading remained weak due to the Thanksgiving holiday, which closed U.S. financial markets on Thursday.
Israel and Hezbollah filed allegations on Thursday over ceasefire violations that came into effect a day earlier.
The deal initially appeared to ease the potential for supply cuts that have created a risk premium for oil. But supplies from the Middle East have been significantly unaffected amid Israel’s parallel conflicts with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
OPEC+ postponed its next policy meeting from Dec. 1 to Dec. 5 to avoid a scheduling conflict. OPEC+ is expected to extend production cuts further at the meeting.
The market on Friday, lowered its Brent price forecast to $76 a barrel in 2025 from $78 a barrel previously. The underlying outlook is driven by continued weakness in oil market sentiment and the downward pressure we expect to see on prices under Trump.
While OPEC+ is expected to opt to roll over the current cuts into the new year, however, there are doubts that would be enough to eliminate the production surplus projected for next year.
Russia attacked Ukrainian energy facilities for the second time this month. The attack carries a risk of retaliation that could affect Russian oil supplies.
Iran said it will install more than 6,000 additional uranium enrichment centrifuges at its enrichment facilities, a confidential report said on Thursday.
If Western powers tighten sanctions on crude oil production, Iranian supplies could fall to as little as 1 million barrels per day in the first half of next year.
